ELCOME to the Darrouzet-Nardi Lab homepage! I am an associate professor at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in the Biological Sciences department, and part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program (EEB).

Last updated July 15, 2024

JOB OPPORTUNITY: I'd like to share this job opportunity for a field technician position that I am working to fill:

Field technican
The Dryland Critical Zone Collaborative Network, based at UTEP, is seeking a field technician. The work involves a mix of visiting local field sites in the area (Texas and New Mexico), maintaining sensors, downloading and processing data, and running laboratory sample analyses. Qualifications include: (1) B.S. in ecology, geology, environmental science, or related; (2) experience in lab work, field work, data processing; (3) basic tool usage (experience working with wiring/electrical or tubing/plumbing is a plus) (4) American driver’s license for at least 3 years (needed to drive university vehicles). The position is full time (40 hrs/week) and the salary is $32k/yr. If you are interested, please send a resume and cover letter (which can be the email itself) at ajdarrouzetnardi@utep.edu. Posted: June 28, 2024.

GRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES: I am interested in accepting one or two graduate students in Fall 2025. We have several exciting projects that are underway at the master's, and Ph.D. levels. I even have an extra special and great opportunity for a Ph.D. student who loves biocrusts that I can't post just yet, but please feel free to reach out to learn more! See here for my prospective student page.

Biocrusts!

ABOUT THE LAB: I am an ecologist and biogeochemist at heart. I'm an ecologist because I enjoy studying all of the complex connections in the living world and I'm a biogeochemist because measuring elemental pools and fluxes is my favorite way to do this. My laboratory's research is focused on investigating plant and soil processes, and a consistent theme is filling in the belowground component of our understanding to complement the often better knowledge of aboveground processes. We use approaches such as isotopic analyses, plant ecophysiological measurements, and a wide array of chemical assays as part of laboratory and field experiments. Many projects also include a global change component such as the effects of invasive species, air pollution, or climate change. Field projects have focused on mountain, desert, and Arctic tundra ecosystems, though since coming to El Paso drylands have been my focus!

Collecting critical zone cores in the pecan orchard

CURRENT WORK: Since I began at UTEP in 2015, we have had two major areas of focus. First, we conducted a National Science Foundation funded project examining the fungal loop in desert ecosystems. We have mainly concluded work on this project and recently the lab has been focused on a second major effort, our collaborative "Dryland Critical Zone" project. In this project, we have been investigating carbon, water, and nutrient cycling in drylands. We have been comparing these cycles in irrigated and unirrigated systems and aiming to create synthetic understanding of organic and inorganic C cycling in particular. Read more about lab projects here. This project has a couple more years, but a third generation of lab projects are also in the works.

MORE INFO: Please check out my Twitter feed, Google Scholar Page, and CV to learn more about my research interests.

Solar eclipse crescents on my shirt!